Harris Goldsmith writes in his note: "This 1948 version is almost completely without mishap. Indeed, there is ample reason to consider it the finest of the Maestro's achievements with this monumental Masterpiece [the Requiem]. The pacing resembles that of the November 23rd, 1940 performance in it's nobility and unhurried breadth.

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SCHUMANN Piano Sonatas: No. 1; No. 2; No. 3 • Carlo Grante (pn) • MUSIC & ARTS 1220 (79:16)


We don’t get the three sonatas on one disc too often; as you can see from the timing, these apples barely fit into the barrel. So on one plane of gratitude we must acknowledge Carlo Grante’s efforts in this regard. His playing has also been generally well received in these pages, though if one searches the article archives, a preponderance of relatively unknown material predominates. Recording Schumann is definitely a step into the mainstream, and as such the requirements get a little tougher for the discerning record collector, though again, convenience cannot be easily overestimated.


But many will, in the case of the sonatas, attempt to make the argument that grouping them together is a silly exercise anyway, since, well, the Schumann sonatas aren’t really sonatas anyway, are they? I guess it all depends on what your definition of sonata is, and whether juxtaposed in extremis , origins can ultimately constitute the same sort of name that fits a form that Mozart would have easily recognized. The No. 1, for instance, began life as an interpolation from his op. 4 Intermezzos, used as the middle Scherzo movement. A later Fandango, composed the same year, would join the conglomeration as the rather sophisticated first movement. So already we are left wondering whether “sonata” is telling-true or simply an afterthought because no better title came to mind.


Sonata No. 2 started life as a concerto without piano; it was to see at least three other incarnations. In the second edition, a Scherzo fourth movement was added, with significant revisions to movement 1. This edition on the present recording uses the added Scherzo, but retains the first thoughts of the original first movement. This is a rather crazy work (in a wonderful way) that features a unique “Clara” theme in the third movement, followed by a series of variations, and the superimposed contrasting rhythms of the last movement making it especially appealing to a composer like Brahms, who adored it. The final sonata had its origins before the other two, but was completed later. Clara herself thought it “not too incomprehensible,” but admitted that the public and critics didn’t understand it. It is the least popular of the sonatas, but even so has much to offer the Schumann-starved.


But getting back to the original question, are these real sonatas? In the end, yes, for they do follow the form more or less closely, even though Schumann felt as if he were storytelling in the most basic narrative sense of the word, while using the Classical structure as a basis for his methodology. In the end, we don’t really care though, for the music is too engaging and rewarding to be overly concerned with the formal scaffolding that Schumann uses to present it to us.


I admire very much Carlo Grante’s recent release on this same label of piano concertos by Mozart, using the Godowsky cadenzas. His playing there is clean, efficient, well rounded tonally, and masculine, while avoiding any sort of hard edge. I find much of the same approach on this album. It is some of the driest Schumann I have ever heard, Grante seeming to forego pedal unless absolutely necessary, and when he does use it, there is such a judicious and economical application that you still come away amazed at how well some of the inner lines of Schumann’s always-critical middle voices are heard. On the other hand, when I listen to the likes of Earl Wild (Sonata 1) or Marc-André Hamelin (Sonata 2), I find a certain flair and wildness that I am missing here, where the confines of ultimate control dominate all conceptions. And Eric Le Sage’s ongoing series (the three sonatas already out and available) sport more resonant and deeply felt sound than what Music &Arts gives us here. Nonetheless, I am reluctant to rain on Grante’s parade, as what he does here is quite admirable and will find many takers. I count myself among them, even if my ultimate requirements need a little more moisture.


FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter

Kempff: Rare Recordings (1936-1945)

BUSONI: Works for Piano and Orchestra

Do many Americans realize what they owe to Josef Gingold, who after a distinguished career as concertmaster and soloist has now taught several generations of violinists at Indiana University? In addition to teaching some of the stars (whose publicists often prefer to label their charges as Galamian or Heifetz pupils, even when it was Gingold who made musicians out of them) of the solo and chamber-music platforms, America's orchestras benefit mightily from having Gingold pupils populate their violin sections. The Faéré, from a two-LP set on Red Bud that John Wiser praised in Fanfare 8:5, p. 249, is a 1966 concert recording with much tape hiss and audience noise, but is no less lovely for all that: patience and experience are called for and supplied. The Kreisler items, some of which are rarely encountered in recital or on disc, are from a mid-1970s Fidelio LP (I cannot find the Fanfare review). Gingold's rhythms are perhaps not as springy and tight as Kreisler's from the 1920s—this is more like the later Kreisler, when Gingold knew him. The sound here is a bit metallic. While the entire Red Bud set should be transferred to CD, this is a worthy and desirable homage to Josef Gingold.

-- David K. Nelson, FANFARE [9/1989]

The Fauré is a mono recording; the Kreisler pieces are recorded in stereo.

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All these pieces date from Liszt's austerer, later years when he had abandoned the life of a lionized itinerant virtuoso. Yet apart from To Petofi's Memory and Mosonyi's Funeral Procession—written to commemorate two cherished, late-lamented compatriots—Jeffrey Swann's chosen programme makes formidable enough technical demands for the disc to sell under the title of "The Virtuoso Liszt"... In so far as sheer prestidigitation is concerned, I would say that Swann's fingerwork is even swifter and sharper-cut than that of the mellower Katsaris (Teldec/ASV) or Howard (Hyperion). In much of the love music in the Waltzes he also shows himself capable of phrasing as poetic as it is intense... [I]n his own highly-strung, darting way, Swann certainly brings home [Liszt's] exploratory daring. As for the two valedictory Hungarian portraits (incidentally listed in the wrong order on the box) I would have preferred a slower tempo for both—and tauter, more inexorable rhythm in the main theme of To Petofi's Memory. Nevertheless, both bring reminders of the searching musician in Swann that won him first prize in Milan's Dino Ciani Competition in the early 1970s.

-- Gramophone [8/1989]

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Recording all the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti on the piano is an undertaking of great moment and fascination: a journey through shared cultural experience, as well as one that explores the subtle thought processes of a musical genius, with his Italianate approach to art. This is the fifth volume in this outstanding series. Carlo Grante is one of Italy’s foremost concert pianists. He has performed in such major venues as the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie’s Chamber Music Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and more. He has appeared as soloist with all of the world’s major orchestras. In 2014-2015, his series “Masters of High Romanticism,” featuring three recital programmes each devoted to Chopin, Chumann and Brahms, was taken to major halls in New York, Vienna and Berlin. Though best known for his Scarlatti, Mozart, and Chopin interpretations, Grante has had many contemporary works dedicated to him, including Adolphe’s Chopin Dreams. He has released nearly 50 recordings.

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HAYDN: Trumpet Concerto in E flat major / MOZART: Serenade N

Leopold Godowsky's liberal adaptations of three Bach Cello Suites retool the originals in the image of hyper-romantic pianism. Harmonies implied by Bach are filled out and elaborated, with new counterpoints and sundry inner voices popping up like rabbits out of a magician's hat. Climaxes get reinforced with booming chords or octave doublings, emerging from the bowels of the keyboard. At times the music's dance origins threaten to buckle under Godowsky's garish filigree. Carlo Grante's light touch and digital deftness, however, keep the textures airborne and alive. He occasionally fidgets with rubato in a way that throws rhythmic definition askew, but he always makes the piano writing sound offhandedly easy. Excellent booklet notes make this release even more enticing. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

"[A] lovingly prepared, executed and recorded performance..." Performance: 4 (out of 5), Sound: 4 (out of 5) -- Keith Potter, BBC Music Magazine

Farewell to New York

This CD contains a spoken word track with excerpts from a talk Busoni gave at Harvard in 1965.
In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Ferruccio Busoni's birth, in 1941 the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York performed and broadcast an all-Busoni program. For the first time in any format, this program has now been released. The conductor, Dimitri Mitropolous, and the two soloists, pianist Egon Petri and violinist Joseph Szigeti, had all been professionally and personally associated with Busoni, and their knowledge and commitment to his music make for some first-rate performances.
This is not a disc for those intolerant of historical recordings--the sound quality, while never unbearable, is highly variable. Still, the high level of the performances does shine through, with Szigeti's playing in the Violin Concerto especially fine. The program makes for an interesting cross-section of this eclectic composer's music. From his arrangement of a Mozart overture we proceed to the 'Indian Fantasy' with its attempt to represent both noble and "barbaric" elements in his interpretation of Native American culture. The solid late-romantic Violin Concerto is preceded by the wholly personal and idiosyncratic "Sarabande and Cortége," reflective and ambiguous orchestral studies drawn from his opera 'Doktor Faust.' As a composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and theorist, Busoni was an influential figure, and this program remains a fitting tribute to him.

English born conductor F. Charles Adler was a student of Gustav Mahler and a devoted Bruckner enthusiast. Presented here on this 5 CD Music & Arts release are the fabled SPA and Unicorn studio recordings of 1952-56 as well as a live broadcast performance of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 6. These works have been expertly restored and re-mastered in 2014 by Aaron Z. Snyder. At least two previously Music & Arts releases devoted to Mr. Adler, one exclusively Mahler, the other given over to both Mahler and Bruckner, have been warmly welcomed back to the catalog, resurrecting the important recordings of an ardent, early supporter of these once controversial, now universally-admired composers.

MAHLER Symphony No. 1. WAGNER Faust Overture . Siegfried Idyll • Bruno Walter, cond; NBC SO • MUSIC & ARTS 1241, mono (77:25) Live: New York 4/8/1939


This important release brings together Walter’s complete final concert from the series of five he did at NBC in 1939. The Faust Overture appeared in a previous Music & Arts Walter collection; otherwise I’m not aware of any previous CD release of the material. The sound is excellent: full-bodied with great clarity and immediacy (capturing many of Walter’s exhortations and strenuous vocalizations)—interestingly, Walter seemed to hold a minority (high) opinion of the notorious Studio 8H.


The Mahler is Walter’s earliest preserved performance of the work (indeed, the earliest by any conductor I’m aware of; Mitropoulos’s Minneapolis premiere recording dates from 1940). It is a reading of thrilling spontaneity, a combustible meeting of Walter’s totally idiomatic Mahler style with the distinctively bright, tightly focused expressive intensity of the NBC orchestra, which responds with total commitment. The first movement is lithe, supple, with a very flexible pulse; hear his impulsive pressing ahead in response to the music’s having modulated one key too far in the sharpward direction (E Major, Rehearsal 6 + 8). The beginning of the slow movement brings a real surprise: what sounds like Mahler’s original conception of solo cello doubling the customary bass in unison—an experiment Walter seems not to have repeated in any of his later extant performances. The finale is intensely dramatic, working to a dénouement of overwhelming emotional force and, ultimately, saturated splendor.


Other available Walter performances give a fascinating picture of the gradual transformation of his interpretation over the years: A live 1947 version with the LPO (Testament) is similar in conception to NBC: swift, light-toned, characterful, and spontaneous, but preserved in problematic sound. A Concertgebouw performance from the same year (Tahra r RCO Live) is sharp and pungent, with a memorably old-world string style. A 1950 performance with the Bavarian State Orchestra (Orfeo) is darker, smoother, less pointed; the 1954 NYPO studio recording weightier, straighter, more severe. By comparison, the final Columbia Symphony version (1961) represents very much an old man’s view—mellow, deliberate, soft-focused, and comparatively uninflected.


Walter conducts a memorable performance of Wagner’s Faust Overture, of seething intensity and swashbuckling drama, on a looser rein than Toscanini’s with the same orchestra two years later (Naxos). Siegfried Idyll was a great Walter specialty, and the NBC version is distinguished by its swift pacing, expressive freedom, and highly nuanced execution, with a pp conclusion of truly heart-stopping beauty. Again, comparisons are instructive: the 1935 studio recording with the VPO (Opus Kura) transparent, lean, surprisingly ascetic with very little string vibrato. A live Los Angeles PO performance from 1949 (Music & Arts) is similar in conception to NBC, but less refined, heavier in expression. Two NYP versions—the 1953 studio recording (United Archives) and a live one from 1957 (Music & Arts)—are more symphonically imposing, less intimate; the final Columbia Symphony recording (1959) slower, less flexible, of muted shades and a decidedly autumnal feeling.


All in all, a major new addition to the Walter discography, one that shows the conductor at his formidable best, and preserved in lifelike, vivid sound. Riches indeed!


FANFARE: Boyd Pomeroy

"People loved him because of his good nature, even if they did not understand his art." Thus wrote Sibylla, Duchess of Württemberg, Froberger's last patron and his "humble forsaken pupil". She places a finger squarely on two fundamental aspects of Froberger's life: his modest and unostentatious character and the extreme subtlety of his music. A pupil of Frescobaldi and exponent of Couperin, Froberger's complete works remained unpublished until 1897 and it is only in the last half-century that more and more keyboard players have started to feel the persuasion of his secret and inward music. The present recording explores some of the music in the earliest of the three surviving Froberger autographs housed in the Austrian National Library, the Libro Secondo of 1649. Colin Tilney is internationally known for his harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano playing, with many solo recordings on DG (Archive), EMI Electrola, Decca, Hyperion, Dorian, etc. For Music &Arts he earlier recorded Bach's English Suites on an antique Italian harpsichord, the French Suites on clavichord, an album of fugues by Bach and his forerunners, and a Scarlatti disc.

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2010 two CD release. Carlo Grante is one of the most active and accomplished performing and recording artists of his generation. He was recently featured in the widely read monograph Roberto Piana incontra Carlo Grante, first of a series devoted to major musical figures of Italy. His concert performances feature a broad repertoire: recently, under the direction of conductor Fabio Luisi, he performed Franz Schmidt's Concertante Variationen with the MDR Orchestra of Leipzig at the Gewandhaus; Busoni's Concerto Op. 39 with the Orchestra dell'Academia S. Cecilia, Rome, at the Parcomdella Musica and with the Wiener Symphoniker in Vienna; F. Schmidt's Concerto with the Wiener Symphoniker at Vienna's Konzerthaus; Isabel Mundry's Panorama Ciego piano concerto with the Dresden Staatskapelle at the Semperoper. He has been recording the complete solo piano works of Godowsky for Music & Arts and recently began recording a complete Scarlatti cycle.